Peace Of Mind
by Probably-Not-Morgan-Freeman
Summary: After their almost untimely demise, two sisters are saved from the top of a semi surrounded by Walkers, to be thrown into the tangled web of the Grimmes Gang. Their dark past soon leak through the cracks, risking their now safe haven, and the new family they made.
1. The Sisters

**UPDATE: I edited this chapter. Fixed the errors I caught, and adjusted the plot a little, seeing as I changed it. **

**Disclaimer: I only own my two blondies, Gerty and Elias.**

**The Sisters**

The heat rose from the asphalt, shimmering above it and making it hard for the blonde haired Elias to see anything without her sunglasses on, so with a quick movement, she pulled them down from atop her head, and onto her face, covering her eyes from the blaring sunlight. Behind her, twelve year old Gertrude let out the fifth moan that hour.  
>"Why can't we just get a car?" She grumbled, dragging her feet. She did this because it was her twenty-six year old sisters biggest pet peeve. With a grumble, Elias turned around, walking backward and motioning to the empty highway they were walking alongside.<p>

"Wow. Look at all our options, Gerty. Oh! I really like that mustang-"  
>"No need to be a smart ass, dickhead." Gerty snapped. Usually, she was a well mannered girl, but heat could really change a person.<br>The barely taller sister grinned, turning back around and adjusting the bag on her shoulder, and then the bag on her back. Elias would have been pretty if it wasn't for the grime that covered her. She was blessed with large bright blue eyes. The past few months had reeked havoc on the extra weight she had, so she was now skinny and fragile. It was a body she would have killed for before the whole 'zombies taking over the world thing' but now it was just a deadly remind of how bad things had become.

Gerty, just now entering her awkward pre-teen years, had yet to fill out anywhere. She thought to herself often about how she looked like a tree trunk, and how it was unfair that Elias got to look like an hour-glass. Elias already had the pretty eyelashes, she shouldn't get everything. But she kept this thought to herself most of the time, not wanting to anger the only family she had left in the entire world. And their was the fact that Elias' weight had always been an incredibly touchy subject her whole life.

Elias stopped, reaching her hand up to adjust the tattered band shirt falling down her shoulder, revealing the giant, realistic roses tattoed onto her shoulder, and she gazed onward, wandering her next course of action. Suddenly, the long empty highway had formed into a hill, and Elias let out a long string of curses. Hill meant anything could be lurking. And by anything, it meant Zombies, or worse, assholes with guns. Her head, dizzy and uncertain, felt muddled. It had been days since she'd last eaten. The little food she had she gave to Gerty.

Reaching into her pocket and pulling out her tiny pistol, she didn't know its name, she wasn't ever the gun type, she checked and made sure it was fully loaded before trudging up the hill slowly, gun drawn and at the ready. But when they reached the top, they saw a car graveyard.

Car graveyards were an important factor to consider in every day life as a survivor of the zombie apocalypse. They could contain hidden treasures, but at the same hide any existing threats. She pushed her sunglasses back atop her head, giving her a clearer view of the car graveyard.

Halfway through the mass of cars, Gertrude screamed. Elias, who was only a few steps away, turned around. A rotting, gnarled hand was gripping her younger sisters ankle, keeping her from any attempt at running or getting way. Gerty was clutching her own knife, but had fallen onto the ground in her struggle to get away.

"Eli, help!" Gerty cried out, tugging at her leg as the thing snapped its teeth. With great urgency, Elias aimed and fired, missing the head. She reaimed and hit it the second time. She was never a good shoot. Her hands always shook uncontrollably in the moments she needed them steady.

"Whew." Eli said, smiling down at her frightened sister and tugging her up. Gerty immediately buried herself in her sisters arms, squeezing her tightly. She knew better than to cry. Crying took to much time, and would end up getting them killed. After a moment, she picked her bag up off the ground and walked ahead of her older sister.

Elias, still standing there, grimaced at the dead body. That had been someones wife. Someones daughter. Now it was just a dead blob on road, and would only rot away. It was a horrible fate. One she would never wish on anyone.

_But there are worst fates_ the thought in the back of her head sang, almost like a lullaby. A lullaby she knew to well.

"Elias?" Gerty called out suddenly, her voice urgent and desperate.

With a sigh, Elias pulled away from her thoughts and turned to her sister. A large Semi truck had been over turned on the road, but coming around the sides was the dead. Dragging their feet and groaning. A great imitation of what Gertrude had been doing just moments before.

"Shit!" The older blonde hissed out, running forward to grab her sister and shoving her behind her back. But they were coming from that direction too. They were every where. She mentally counted the number of bullets she had. Two had been used moments before. That left 8. But she needed two, in case their was no escape, she wasn't going to let Gerty or her become one of those things. Six. She could only take out six of the 15 walks trudging slowly towards her.

With another curse, she took aim, trying to steady her shaky hands.

Growing up, their father had been a hunter, priding himself in his catches of giant bucks. He wanted a son, but had received Elias instead, but that didn't stop him from living his dreams until one was born. It wasn't long after she had entered 6th grade that he had taken her hunting with him for the first time. She actually considered that as one of her better memories with her father. Decked in heavy coats and bright orange they had sat outside in a tree stand for hours, just sitting in quite. That was, until she slipped and fell, causing the bone in her arm to break through her skin. Her father was more upset about the deer than his daughter, had shot the deer before it ran, and then picked up Elias. He carried her back to the car and went back for the deer.  
>That had been the last time he took her with him, and because of that, she had never been able to shoot a gun.<p>

So the first time she ever touched one was the moment her and Gerty were cornered. She saw it laying their, shining in the morning sun, and scooped it up.

She hit the closest ones shoulder. and it staggered a step back before taking another dragged one forward.

Five. She aimed again, and it hit, sending it toppling to the ground quickly.  
>That left fourteen zombies and four bullets.<p>

Gerty was gripping the back of her shirt now. "Gerty." Elias said steadily. "We're going to climb on to that semi. We just need to run. Follow me. Don't let go, and don't let them touch you."  
>She felt her sister nod against her backpack, and then ran forward, one hand pointing the gun and the other reaching back to grab her sisters shirt.<p>

The sisters reached the truck without a major problem, and Elias had actually managed to shoot two zombies to the ground, before turning around and shoving her little sister up with all her strength. She wasn't very strong, but Gerty wasn't very large either. With a quick glance over her shoulder she ripped off her bags, tossing them to the top of the vehicle and then jumping up to grab the top of the red cab.

With a heavy breath, a jump, and a grunt, she pulled herself up, her foot barely liting up as they reached out for her. They still weren't high enough. Her blue eyes darted around, and she decided their next move would be climbing atop the metal cylinder attacked to the cab. It was higher up and it would be hard to get Gerty up there, but it was worth it.  
>She ushered her sister over there, jumping over the window and tossing the bags onto the twelve year old. It made her heavier, but they weren't things she considered leaving. She struggled to get her up, and then jumped, gripping the edge and pulling her own body up. She crawled forward for a few seconds, and then flopped down.<p>

"That was the biggest work out I've had in weeks." She laughed to her sister breathlessly. Gerty didn't see the humor in the situation and glared down at her. "Lighten up, Gertrude. You only live once." She let out another snort of laughter, pushing herself up turning to examine the monsters below. They were all standing at the sides, beating onto the metal tin stretching to reach them, but the two girls were well out of reach. And in that moment of realization, that they would live another day, maybe even week, her arm slid over her sisters shoulder, bringing her to her chest and hugging her tightly.

They sat their only for a half hour when their salvation came, driving a black sedan, its windows shining in the late afternoon light. Elias and Gertrude shoved themselves up, screaming and jumping atop of the semi, their arms flailing and their voices rough. It stopped only feet from where the girls where, clocked from coming any closer by a large white mini van.

And out came their saviors.

A man in a police suit, and another, darker skinned man with hair shaved down to the skull.  
>"Help us, please!" Gertrude screamed as the hesitated, still standing behind the doors of their car, as if ready to jump in and run for it.<p>

The cop pulled out his gun first, aiming and firing, clearing the side of the six zombies that had wandered over. And it took seconds for Elias to lay down on her stomach, helping her sister roll over the side and safely to the ground, the bags still strapped to her. The short haired man ran to the side, his arms out for Elias to slide into, and she did, not thinking of anything other than surviving the next few moments. The walkers were now turning around the side, the remaining 8 sauntering over to them, arms reaching out even though they were still feet away.

Elias pulled her own gun out, wasting her last two bullets on one walker. She would surely need to work on her aim. But the two men made quick work of the remaining walkers, and in the after math, stood in the hot sun, staring at Elias and Gertrude, who stood uneasily feet away.

"My name's Rick, and this Shane." The cop said, pointing towards the shaven man. Elias didn't care, really. She wanted to hit the road. It wouldn't be long before more walkers showed up from all the shooting. And she was now feeling incredibly nauseous and dizzy. She didn't regret giving her portion of the food to Gerty, but she was starting to see it hadn't been the best idea as she struggled to stay standing. "We heard shooting from our camp and wanted to see what was happening."

Elias took a few steps back. "I'm Elias, and this is my little sister, Gertrude." She said uneasily, the gun in her hand falling to the ground, and her following in pursuit. All the energy spent protecting Gertrude left her week, and her vision black. The last thing she heard was her younger sister screaming her name out in fear.


	2. The Broken Group

**UPDATE: I edited this chapter. Fixed the errors I caught, and adjusted the plot a little, seeing as I changed it. **

**Ah! So the second chapter! Hey y'all. I would like to point out that i'm not really sure what direction I want this story to go in, but i'm eager to write it. **

**So, the direction part comes down to you guys. I want to know what you think and what you want. I don't want this to be cliche, so I want you guys to tell me what you want to happen, or what you think should happen. **

**The Broken Group**

When she came to, she was laying on a couch in a very cookie-cutter living room. The lights above her still surged with incredible vibrancy even though electricity for most places had gone off weeks ago. Her head was still foggy, and slightly ached from what she assumed was caused by the fall.

"Eli." Gerty said, rushing forward and wrapping her arms around her elder sister. "Eli, I thought you died." She whispered, she sounded as if she was on the verge of tears, but she knew she shouldn't cry. So she didn't. Elias pushed her back examining the younger girl for any damage that could have been done to her.  
>"Are you okay?" She whispered, her blue eyes wide, trying to speak to her little sister. Gerty nodded her head, her own blue eyes darting to the men in door way.<p>

"They didn't do anything to me." She swore, a faint smile on her mouth. "They even gave me pancakes for breakfast."  
>With a quick blink of shock and confused, she turned to the men, Rick and Shane. "How long?" She inquired, trying to push herself up.<br>"Shane, why don't you run to the kitchen and get Hershel?" Rick said. The other man shot him a disgruntled look, and walked past the couch and through a white swinging door. He walked around the couch, sitting on an old recliner next to her and leaning forward, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasping each other. "About a day. Don't worry, we took care of the girl for you."

Eli smiled, running a hand through Gertys tangled mess. She was in one piece and alive. That was all she needed to know. Gertrude smiled up at Eli, positioning herself on the floor next to her older sisters feet. "Thank you so much. I don't know what I could ever do to replay this deb-"  
>Rick held up a hand, stopping me as the kitchen door opened. "You don't owe us anything. We were just helping out." But she wasn't listening, the smell of heaven wafted to her nose, and she let out a content sigh, her stomach gurgling in response. It only reminded her of how hungry she was.<p>

An old man came around the corner, a plate stacked with pancakes and apple slices. He set it on top coffee table infront of her, handing her a fork. She didn't even wait a second before she slid onto the floor next to Gerty and consumed the food with startling quickness. The old man let out a laugh.  
>"Elias is it?" He said after a moment, and she puller herself away from the food with dismay. Wiping at the syrup on her cheek, she nodded.<p>

"My name is Hershel Greene, I own this farm that you're on. Rick said his group found you and saved you, but you fainted. Now, your sister says that you hadn't eaten in a few days, and that you hadn't drank anything in a long while." He raised an eyebrow at her, and she gave another sheepish nod. "I'm just a vet, but I know what dehydration and starvation look like when I see it. And that fall gave you a nasty bump on your head. We feared that you had a concussion and wouldn't wake up. We closed it easy, with the use of a couple stitches."  
>Gertrude nodded, as if to confirm it. "While you were sleeping,"she added almost silently "they gave you water and broth."<p>

Hershel nodded to confirm this. "If we hadn't, you surly would have died. You can't just neglect your human needs, or you'll die. And then where will your sister be?"  
>"I...I don't know." Elias whispered, her eyes darting around the room. A fresh wave a shame overwhelmed her and she froze. Why had she done something so incredibly stupid?<p>

"You're young, but not to young to be doing such foolish things. She needs you." Hershel sighed, and then stood up. "I'm was informed by the others that a tent has been set up for you outside, so you'll be sleeping there tonight. You'll be fine, as long as you keep drinking that water. I'll send Maggie out with some bandages and alcohol to clean your head wound." And with that, the old man turned to leave, heading back into the kitchen.  
>Rick stood up, his hands in his pockets. "I hope you don't mind, but since you were pretty much out of it, Carol took your and Gertrude's filthy clothes and washed and folded them, with Gertrude's help, of course." He pointed to my bags that were sitting on the floor, the clothing folded and sitting outside of it. "Hershel is being kind enough to let us use their showers, so why don't you take a shower, and then come join me on the porch?" He pointed out the bathroom door, and then he was gone, leaving Eli sitting on the floor, staring at her pancakes as Gerty shifted uncomfortably behind her.<br>She took another slow bite out of her food before turning to her sister. "So...what do you think?"  
>Gerty looked of from the line she was tracing on the floor with her finger, cocking her head in thought. "I think they're good people. The Carol lady...she's was very kind to me, and so were the others. They even gave me candy...and you know how rare that is."<p>

Nodding slowly, Elias scooped the rest of the pancakes into her mouth, handing the plate to her younger sister and asking her to return and thank them for the food. She nodded and skittered off into the kitchen. In seconds it was filled with laughter, Gerty's clear bird like laugh twinkling underneath the cracks. With one last look towards the door, she walked forward, grabbing the first pants, under garments, and shirt she could find. She reached for her cow boy boots and then made her way to the bathroom.

WDWDWDWDWDWD

It was a godsend. The hot water had coursed over her skin, making her feel that she had never once been clean since this had all started. She couldn't even remember her last real one. It must have been ages ago. The most Gerty and her had done in weeks was run already dirty rags over any body parts covered in blood.

The shower made her almost feel human again. But human blood was something you could wash away, but never truly be read of.

But once she was dressed in her shorts and yet another ragged shirt, with her boots snug on her feet, she was wishing to still be in there, even though the tub was now ringed in filth. With a deep breath, she stepped out onto the porch, her hair still slightly damp and waving down her back in blonde tangles, and her face pulled into a look of complete concentration. They swept over the layout of the place quickly, landing on the Rick, leaning against the railing, a long, brown haired woman next to him, peering out into a field, where a young boy was sitting with what looked like Gerty.  
>Elias' heart swelled with the fact that Gertrude had made a friend. The older sister hadn't seen her so laid back since before the world went to shit. It was a comforting feeling, that their was normalcy in this little farm, hidden from the raging war against the living and the dead.<p>

Walking over slowly, hands tucked into her back pockets, she gave the couple a small smile when they looked over at her. The brown haired woman pushed herself away from the railing, a smile on her face that didn't actually reach her eyes, but still polite as ever, she took a few steps forward.

"So, you're the girl that's been crashing on the couch." The older woman said, that smile looking more strained. Elias held out a scarred hand, and she held out her own. "I'm Rick's wife, Lori. Here, let me get Carl over here. Might as well introduce you two, so that he doesn't think you're an intruder." She smiled, waving over her son, who walked over quickly, despite the disapproving look of his mother. When he reached us, he climbed the steps uncertainly, darting past me to stand next to his mother.  
>"Hi." Elias said, a real smile on her face at the look the boy was giving her. She had always been a fan of kids. If it wasn't for the monsters lurking everywhere, she probably would have had plenty of them. But that was a different time, and now her legs would forever be closed to the reproduction aspect of it.<p>

"Carl, manners." Lori said, a small laugh, she gave a soft squeeze on his shoulder, and he stepped forward slowly, hand out.

"I'm Carl."

"I'm Elias, handsome." Elias' grin widened at his blush, and he looked up at his mother, who was also smiling. Rick reached a hand up patting on his own shoulder.

Lori looked at the watch on her wrist and then sighed, "Sorry, but me and Carl have to go get his medicine. It was nice meeting you. I'll see ya around." She gave one last smile before walking into the house, Gerty gave her blonde sister a quick smile before following them into the house.

Rick pushed himself away from the railing and went to head down the steps of the porch. "A coupl'a days ago, almost a week, Carl was shot, almost died. Ever since, Lori has been incredibly protective. But don't worry, she wont aim for your throat if you make a wrong move. He's not supposed to be running around like that, shouldn't even be outta bed, but dang is he stubborn. Gets that from Lori." He laughed. "So if you see him horse playin, make sure to stop him. He doesn't need to be tearin those stitches."

It took a second for Elias to realize the throat comment was a joke. It had been so long since she had real human contact that she assumed her ability to understand social interaction was starting to get rather dull. She hoped she wouldn't make a fool of herself, and her stomach clinched in nervousness. She was so easily trusting of them that she felt confused. Her main rule was always be wary. Why couldn't she follow it around them?

"Look, about you being here. The group voted on a temperary stay. Didn't want to put that sweet girl of yours out there. She looks alot like the girl we lost, so they have a soft spot for her." Rick smiled at her uneasliy, testing the waters for the girls reaction. "So you work, and you don't screw up, you can stay. But the moment everything goes sour, you're out of here."

Elias wanted to hug him, but she settled for nodded and agreeing a thoughsand times promsing a thousand times.

Within a few steps they were upon a fire surrounded by five people, chowing down on something that looked a little to squirly for Elias' taste. With a distasteful look, she took a nervous step toward them, right at Ricks side. He cleared his throat, and every gaze turned to her. In her high school days and her college years, she had never been incredibly gifted at public speaking. Once she had actually thrown up all the corn dogs she had jammed into her pie hole right before an important speech. It didn't end well for her. Or the poor kids in the front row.

She felt that same feeling building up in her stomach, causing her to cast a wary glance around the group. _That would be a GREAT first __impression__,_ she thought_, let me just vomit all over them._

Back in reality, she only recognized one face, and it was Shane's. He gave her a warm smile, but Elias' goose bump shivers went down her back. He stood up, walking over and patting her on the shoulder. "Hey, Killer." He stood at her other side, his hand resting on her upper back. "Has anyone ever told you that you weigh about as much as a full grown bear?"

With a raised eyebrow she looked at him. "Sorry, I guess I'll have to lay off on all the eating I'm doing." This earned a chuckle from him, and her shoulders relaxed. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard getting along with everyone. As long as they're all like Shane.

The rest of the group was a rather odd combination. A black man, a frail older woman, an Asian, and a pretty blonde. It sounded like one of those cheesy, long winded jokes about a bar. They all introduced themselves, being friendly, and asking how I was feeling, but that was all they said, before turning back to their meal and conversing softly.

Shane nodded his head, a smile still on his mouth, before going back to his own food.

With a sigh, Rick turned away from the group. "Sorry 'bout that." He almost whispered, putting his hand lightly on my shoulder and leading me towards an RV surrounded by a random arrangement of tents. "The day Carl was shot was also the day Carol's daughter was spooked into running away. She's been lost ever since. Moral has been low, and every one's exhausted from searching. They'll be better in the morning, But still, it'll take some time for them to warm up. Suffered a couple icy glares myself." With a warm smile he led her towards an RV. Climbing down the ladder of it was an older man with a slight pot bellied and an actually attractive, and what she assumed, red necked man, not to much older than herself standing next to it, a cross bow pulled over his shoulder.

Rick called out to them, and the older one waved, but they both walked over, slowly and tiredly.  
>The older one, Dale, introduced himself warmly, before grabbing Rick by the shoulder and walking towards the fire, inquiring about some part for the RV. It left her and the red neck together, the awkward silence over whelming because neither of the two saying anything. She waited, thinking he would, but all he did was stare over at the trees in the distance, fiddling with the large cross bow over his shoulder.<p>

"Elias." She said finally, holding her hand out to shake his, his eyes darted back to hers but he only gave her a cold, blue eyesstare, his eyes slightly narrowed. _'okay then'_she thought, pulling her hand down and wiping it on her tattered grey shirt, as if that had been her plan the entire time.

"That's a boy name." Was his only response, adjusting the bow on his shoulder, as if he were nervous of Elias, even though she was barely half his size.  
>She gave an uncaring shrug, her blonde hair making a halo around her face. "Daddy wanted a boy." With an easy smile, she fiddled with the hem of her shirt, and her booted feet started to ridged, as they always did when she was nervous or thinking to hard. "But instead, he got me. Trust me, he's better off. The men in my family? Major dicks. Plus" she added as an after thought, a wicked smile threatening to spill onto her lips, "I doubt they look as good in short shorts and cowboy boots." Elias then turned, spotting her younger sister darting between the tents. She took off after her at a slow jog.<p>

"Nice meetin ya!" She called out, waving her hand behind her.

Leaving him staring at her from behind, utterly confused.

And she too was utterly confused. It was almost as if she was trying to, dare she even think it, _flirt. _Sure, he was sorta nice to look at. It had been a long time since she'd seen a man, much less an attractive one. She brushed it off as her yearning for any sort of social interaction.

But she was cut off from her thoughts when she rounded the corner, bumping right into Gerty as she poked her head around a tree.

Elias and the younger sister both let out a dismayed squeak, shoving each other away in shock.

"What are you doing?" Eli hissed, rubbing at the red spot where her sister had whacked her in the shoulder. For a malnourished 9 year old, she hit with the strength of man.

"_I doubt they look as good in short shorts and cowboy boots." _Gerty mimicked in an uncanny impersonation of her sister, her deep blue eyes alight laughter.  
>Eli narrowed her icy blue gaze, frowning at her younger sister before reaching up to pop her on the back of the head gently. "Mind your own business." She turned to stand up and walk back towards the campfire.<p>

Gerty laughed following behind, a skip to her step. "You have always been such a flirt." She giggled. "Geez, back in the pre-world-is-ending-days you could flirt your way out of anyway."

A small smile almost forced its way onto Eli's lips. "Remember when I got pulled over for running a stop sign?"

Gerty laughed again. "You were a horrible driver too."


	3. Useless

**UPDATE: I edited this chapter. Fixed the errors I caught, and adjusted the plot a little, seeing as I changed it. **

**Useless**

It had to be done.

The laundry, that is. Seeing as Elias was the newest recruit the Grimmes Gang, she was stuck with the rest of the 'fragile bodied woman' scrubbing out their laundry in the pond next to the old farm house. She did not approve of this sudden classification of her being weak.  
><em>Sure, <em>she thought to herself,_I__'m not the strongest with my aim, but I'm not a pansy._

She huffed, ringing the soaked shirt out before tossing it onto large rope. Carol, the older woman, reached forward and examined it, her eyebrows raised. She had been doing that to every single piece of clothing Elias had cleaned and it was getting on more than her last nerve. She felt the distinct urge to grab her by her shirt and shake her.

She settled for asking if something was wrong. Best not to shake someone on your first real day on the farm, or as she liked to refer to it, whole, happy go lucky feel everyone was giving, well _almost _everyone, was more of an annoyance than a reassurance. She wondered more than once in the past few hours if these people were insane, or just stupid.

Carol gave her a motherly smile in return, taking the clothing from the rope and putting it back in the dirty pile. "Have you ever washed clothing before?"

"Uh, with a washer? I mean, the whole Zombie Apocalypse shot that horse in the mouth."

Carol smiled at Elias, as if she was the mother lecturing the teenager for foolish behavior, never mind that Carol was probably only 15 or 16 years older than Elias. The greying hair had easily been explained when Lori leaned over, whispering in a gossip fashion that Carol's husband had been abusive to both Carol and the missing girl.

While she felt for both Carol and the girl, Elias also felt as if she were reading a gossip magazine in the grocery store checkout line. Lori had only known her a few hours and had already spilled the juicy secrets on everyone.

Making a mental note, Elias told herself to never trust Lori with any sort of secret ever. That is, if she wanted it to stay a secret.

Coral clucked her teeth, dunking the pile of clothing into the ponds edge. "I meant like this."

"Oh. Uhm no. When our clothes were to covered in filth, we dumped them and grabbed new ones."

"Well, I can tell. The things you've done are filthy."

Elias suppressed a glare, but the older woman continued on with her daily chores, completely happy with the simplicity of it. It was easy, mind numbing work, and all Carol struggled to do since the day they had arrived at the farm was keep her head in her moment of crisis. The thoughts of Sophia haunted her. She was lost. Starving. Dead.

"Why don't you go up to the house and see if Rick has anything to do for you? Or maybe Patrica."  
>Lori chose that moment to jump in, her hands wet and covered in soap suds. "Its okay, Elias. Really, we have it covered. We'll have this done in twenty minutes flat."<p>

With a shrug and minor offense, Elias consented, ambling back towards the house, a small frown on her face. She hadn't meant to be sent away, despite all her inner griping and moaning, she had been trying her best. But maybe she would be thrown into the action. Well, whatever action was happening. Anything was better than scrubbing someone elses dirty panties. End of the world panties at that.

xXxXxXx

When she finally found Rick, he was on the porch, surveying the the land with the face of a a man who belonged there. Years of being a cop had given him that look. The look of a man who could protect you with just a lamp and rusty bottle opener. It had also given him the the amazing ability to persuade you that he, no matter what the situation, was calm and collected, knowing exactly what to do.

It was a gift he had received from his father and his wife had pointed it out to him countless times. But he knew he was nothing like his father. Or atleast he hoped.

He looked up slowly as he noticed the new member approaching him, sauntering as if she had no problems in the world to deal with. He sighed, wondering if the group of danger attractors had taken up yet another attractor. It was too soon to tell, but birds of a feather did tend to flock together.

"Hey copper." Elias an easy smile on her face and her hands in her pockets. She was small, and the cop briefly wandered how someone her seize had managed to survive so long. "Whats crackin?"

"I was looking for Glenn but got distracted by this view." Rick answered easily, motioning towards the farm. It was beautiful. There was no denying that. The fields were still sprouting wildflowers amid the green, and the trees were just starting to shed their greenness, slowly turning shades of yellows, oranges, and reds. Fall was slowly creeping up on them, and Rick feared for the safety of the group once winter full hit. It meant cold weather and snow. And that meant starvation and frostbite and maybe even death. It would be their first winter since this fuckin hell started.

With a content murmur from Elias, she agreed.

And they stood in silence, their thoughts drifting as they gazed out into farm fields, the barn sitting near the edge and small smudged figures of the group making their way from one place to the next.

He didn't want to be the one to tell them they had to leave, and that this wasn't anything but temporary. Rick didn't want to always make the shots and later have them analyzed and shoved into his face.

But now Elias was staring at him, her head cocked as if she had said something to him, but he had been to lost to even know what she had said. She raised her eyebrows. "Why do you need Glenn?

"Oh, just sending him to town on a routine run with Hershel's oldest, Maggie. We need some more supplies. Might as well stock up while we have the chance, right?" Rick smiled at the blonde, before turning to take a step around her, his hand on his walkie, but she took another step, blocking him.  
>"Why don't you just send me instead?"<p>

Rick blinked, confused at her sudden bluntness."What?"

"Why don't you send me instead of Glenn?" She smiled a large smile, her eyes big. It was actually quite frightening.

"Well, Elias, ya see Glenns our fastest and most experie-" Rick sputtered. He didn't know what to say. What could he? He didn't trust her yet, but he had never had someone so eager to do something like this before.  
>"I went to Standford on a Track scholarship. I'm fast. Incredibly. How do you think I've made it so long?"<p>

"Well-"  
>"Please. I am not cut out for this womanly chore thing." She was begging now. He felt that at any moment the blonde was going to get on her knees. And he couldn't deal with that. "I want to prove myself."<p>

He sighed, nodding his head and unclasping the walkie from his belt. "Fine. But Maggie's going to report back to us every half hour. Just to make sure everything's going well. You can take this one out to Daryl." Elias squealed, throwing her arms around the older man, her heart pounding in excitement. "Are you sure?" He inquired again. "This is serious."

She nodded her head ecclesiastically. "Of course!" She was already turning towards the steps and making her way down them.

"I'll tell Maggie!" Rick called after her, and she raised her hand to show she heard.

_Well,_ Rick thought to himself as he walked to the front door,_ its nice to have a little __enthusiasm__ for once. _

xXxXxXx

She walked toward the RV, a skip in her step and a swing in her arms, her excitement was unreal. She wouldn't let her rethink going out into the town. It was to late. She couldn't even figure out why she was so excited to go. She had lived it the past couple months, but now she seemed unable to just slink into normal, everyday life.

She gripped the rungs on the ladder, pulling herself up with ease, but awkwardly clambering onto the top, the man in the lawn chair turning his head to peek at her from the corner of his grey blue eyes. She gave him a small smile.

"What the fuck ya want?" He grumbled. He was working on carving something, his hands moving the knife over the wood with extreme precision, like he had done it a thousand times before. Elias figured he was making arrows for his crossbow.

She raised an eyebrow, the walkie still in her hand. She felt the sudden urge to yank his chain. "Well, I'm being sent on a perilous journey forth from the unyielding grasp of the camp dwellers to fetch a colossal-"

"God, ya don't need to talk to me like I'm some dumbass. All ya college graduates all the same and shit." He snarled, his hooded eyes narrowing at her. Did she look like a college graduate? Or did Gerty spill the beans?

"I never graduated. I dropped out. I went to Standford on a scholar ship. I only lasted 3 years." Elias shrugged her thin shoulders. If this had been a normal day, where people weren't eating other people, she wouldn't had said anything. It wasn't something she was ashamed of, but it was something she hated being judged on.  
>She would always be asked why, and she would always give the same bland response back about wasting someone elses spot who wanted to be there more than she did. The real answer, one she knew no one would ever understand, was that she had always felt that her time on Earth was limited. Not as in the normal, spend 90 years and then your done, but as in i'm-not-going-to-make-it-past-23. So she went home. got a job as a waitress, and spent her remaining time with Gerty and her parents. Her father was never able to understand, how she could just throw her life away.<p>

The world ended two years later, so it didn't really matter.

"That's probably the most fuckin' stupidest thang I ever heard." Daryl muttered, shaking his head at the blonde. "Ya fuckin' idiot."

With narrowed eyes she shoved the two radio into his hand. "Here, Rick said to give this to you. And at least I made it to college. Did you even graduate?" She hissed, turning to climb down the radio.

With a huff he returned her glare. "Piss off!"

"How about you go fuck yourself." She shot back, jumping off the second step of the ladder and storming off, not hearing anything else that he grumbled after her.  
>"UGH!" She snarled to herself. "What a complete jackass."<p>

He was not going to be easy to get along with.

xXxxXxXx

Maggie wasn't happy about Elias coming with her instead of the sprightly Asian, and Elias could tell this just from the looks of annoyance Maggie was sending in her direction as they got out of the car.

_Don't look at her or you'll turn to stone from that glare she's sending you, _Elias thought to herself bitterly as she unzipped her bag, grabbing what was left of the tampon selection. Sure it wasn't on the list, but there was no way she was going to rough it once her monthly problem started. Maggie, in the corner, stood shoving pills into her bag, her brown eyes flashing over the labels quickly.  
>Elias walked around small pharmacy quickly, stepping over the discarded packages and bottles towards the front counter. Not that there was anything left. Almost everything useful had been picked off a long time ago, this was evident from the large amounts of dust that covered nearly everything. But she wasn't looking for anything that someone would want to take.<p>

She hopped up onto the counter, sliding her way over the top and to the ground on the side. Her eyes swept over the ground, seeing nothing but receipts and coins. And then she saw it. Tiny and rectangular with the black words printed neatly on the front side. She bent down, leaning under the counter to scoop it up.

"What are you doing?" Elias jumped, her head whacking against the underside of the counter. She pulled herself back, rubbing her head from the pain.  
>"Owww." She moaned, the card in the hand not clutching her head. "Uh, well, me and Gert, we have this thing we do. To remember everywhere we've been." She stood up, pushing her self onto her knees, unzipping her bag and sliding the business card into the front pouch. When she got back to her tent she would add it to her own backpack, rubber banded to all the other assortment of business cards. "We always take one of the little business cards from the store we take from. They always have them on the counter, and if not, we make our own and write down the address." The blonde stood up from the grime covered ground, examining the brunette.<p>

Maggie nodded, smiling softly at the other girl. It was the first real look she had given Elias with any sort of emotion. "My family likes to think that if they were alive, they would want to help."  
>Elias smiled back and nodded. She knew that wasn't true better than anyone else. If they were alive right now, they would probably kill them. But, still, it was a nice thought to have.<p>

Maggie turned around, done talking, reaching out for another bottle.

And that's when she started screaming.

Maggie had been grabbed. A walker had shoved his hand through the wood of the shelf and was tearing his way though more every second Elias sat and stared from the top of the counter. It was almost surreal.

"HELP!" Maggie screeched, her face red with fresh tears of terror streaming down it.

That's when she snapped back to reality. Elias scrambled off the counter, falling onto her face before she pushed herself back up, her hand still scrambling for her gun. She struggled with the holster, the buttons had always been finicky, and always during the time of trouble. She always knew it was more trouble that it was worth.  
>Maggie continued to screech as she struggled to keep her arm from becoming a zombie lunch-able. Kicking and struggling with, tugging her arm back from the monster only to have to ripped back. How could they be so strong, when their muscle was falling away?<br>Elias, with a pounding heart, managed to rip the gun from her holster, and with a flick of her finger turning the safety off, she pulled the trigger, the gun pressed against the rotting flesh of the zombie.

Then everything was silent. Maggie,silently sobbing in relief, falling to her knees, and Elias slowly following her down, blood splattered over both of them. And they sat, gasping for air, resisting the urge to grab onto the other and hold on. Not because of any emotional connection, but because they wanted the human comfort.

"That was a close call." Elias whispered, placing her gun back in her holster, and then clutching her backpack tightly to herself.

All Maggie did was nod, and they continued sitting in their shocked silence.

But then, a groan filled the room. The girls both stood up quickly, backpack back on Maggie's shoulders, and faces tense. Their eyes, blue and brown, darting wildly around the room, and to their left, the front door stood, propped open with a walker that had crawled its way in. And the others, they were trampling over its decaying body in order to make their way in.

Maggie stiffened, her eyes wide and darting for an escape. But there were to many. That door was the only one leading outside, and the other, an archway, just lead to a set of stairs. And if horror movie edict taught them anything, it was that running up stairs would probably be what killed them.

"Where did they all come from? They weren't outside a minute ago!" Elias gasped, stepping backways, getting as far away from the walkers as she possibly could. "Maggie, you've been here a thousand times, how do we get out of here?!" When Maggie didn't respond, she reached and tugged at her hand. That snapped the brunette back to attention, her breathing coming out faster. She was terrified. But so was Elias.

"U-Uh. Oh! Follow me! I think their's a fire escape from upstairs!" And then Maggie tugged her hand, yanking her through the archway, and disregarding every single horror movie they had ever watched. They stomped up the stairs quickly, their chests heaving at the stamina it took.

It was a tiny office with a desk pushed against the wall, and a giant pile of blankets laying in the corner like a nest and in it...Elias looked away, surveying the room quickly. She didn't want that crumpled rotting body to be the last thing she ever saw. She could hear them stumbling their way up the stairs, moaning out to them.

Maggie gasped, pointing out when she saw the window. "The fire escape is that one!"

Elias ran forward, shoving it open and peering out. "Maggie." Her voice was void of emotions, almost a whisper.  
>"Hurry!" Maggie insisted, shoving gently at the girl infront of her.<p>

"I cant!" Elias hissed."This is a balcony, not a fire escape."

But the monsters were already up the stairs coming through the door. "Just hurry!" Maggie hissed. They had no choice, crawling through the window quickly, to escape the 6 walkers cornering them in that office. Elias reached back to help Maggie out of the window, before quickly slamming it shut behind her. It was to small, they were basically pressed against each other, gasping for breath as the monsters started to slam their bloody palms against the glass.

"We're going to have to jump." Elias said lowly, pointing to the building next door. "Its only a story down..." She gulped. It may have only been a story to the next building , but if they miss shot, they would both end up crashing through the sky lights on top of the building, or two stories down in the alley with broken legs and a easy meal for the walkers. They were swarming around in the alley now. Nine of them mulling, their heads pointing up and their vacant eyes trained on the two girls peering down at them.

"But what about the hoard on the ground? What if we miss and fall into the alley. There are like, twenty of them." They had both climbed atop the railing, clutching onto each other for support.

"Well...don't miss."  
>And then they leaped, hitting the roof, but also crashing through the glass.<p> 


	4. Leap of Faith

**Disclaimer: I only own my two blondies, Gerty and Elias.**

**Leap Of Faith**

She came to to the sound of a dismayed scream, her head dizzy and laying atop a pile of broken glass. How had they gotten here? Oh. Right. They had figured taking a jump from one roof to the next would be a good idea, but they both misjudged the distance and instead crashed right through the glass ceiling and straight into the pharmacy. Maggie. She was the screaming. She remembered slowly her mind staggered. With a ginger push up, she staggered over, looking for the other girl.

She couldn't see her, but she definitely heard her. So took off at a limp looking for her. Just around the corner, there she was, sitting on the black and white tiled floor, her face scrunched in pain.

She skittered to a halt infront of the brown haired woman, covering her mouth with her hand. "Shh. You're screaming loud enough to wake the dead." She hissed. She took a moment to give her self a mental highfive before narrowing her eyes at Maggie. "You're going to get us killed." Elias whispered, crouching down farther and examining her wound. Glass. Straight through. With a grimace, she looked around onto her own shoulder. She grabbed at one of the numerous holes and ripped the flannel sleeve off. _So long favorite shirt, you were loved_, she mentally sighed bitterly.

"Okay." Elias began, putting her hand on the glass. The other woman screamed into her hand. "I'm going to rip this out. And I want you to hold that scream in, Maggie. If you do you'll call more Walkers over here. And then," She glanced up uneasily at the shop windows, they were so crowded with the dead that she couldn't even see past them, "And then we'll both have a lot more to scream about."  
>Maggie nodded through clenched teeth, grabbing onto the blondes shirt and squeezing tightly. "Just do it fast. Like a band-aid. But distract me. Say something funny."<p>

Elias frowned, knowing this wasn't going to feel anything like ripping a band-aid off, and gripped the end of the glass in her hand, flinching slightly as it cut deep into her hand. Maggie squirmed slightly, her face in absolute agony.  
>"I can't think of anything funny, but once my mother gave me some nice advice."<br>"Yeah?" Maggie whimpered.

"Drink some wine, kiss a stranger, swim naked." She tightened her hand more, hissing at the pain of the glass slicing through her palm.

Maggie cast a quick glance with her brown eyes at Eli. "What kind of advi-"

She didn't get to finish her question, because with a with a hard tug Elias yanked the glass came out, covered in blood and causing more blood to seep from the wound. Maggie held in a scream, clenching her teeth hard.

"Your dad is NOT going to be happy with the condition I'm returning you in. You look like a pile of poopy." Minus the horrible wound on her leg, Maggie had a range of cuts and scraps from the other, smaller peices of glass. Elias tyed the sleeve around the cut tightly, helping the brunette stand up.

"You don't look so great your self, Eli." Maggie feebly said, her arm over Elias' shoulder, giving her some of the weight. "How can you even see through all that blood?"  
>With a confused look, Eli reached up, touching her own forehead to feel a wet substance, she pulled her hand down, see that it was dark cherry colored blood. "Shit. Must have smacked it on the way down." She realized the adrenaline was what was keeping her from feeling it. Later, when she was calmed down, she definitely would. "Come on. Lets get outta here."<p>

Then the glass broke. "SHIT." Elias hissed, half dragging Maggie to the back of the store. The groaning came again, louder as they toppled in through the broken windows, their skin snagging on the glass and revealing their decaying insides. The smell was unbelievable, and the women held gags back.

"Guess we might not be able to swim naked, huh?"

Elias ignored the other woman, limping over to the next door. She flung it open, sliding both of them in quickly before slamming it behind them. After releasing Maggie, Elias flipped the lock on the door and then turned around. It was a storage room, with high shelves piled with tipped over boxes and dust.

"That's not going to hold." Maggie whispered, leaning against the shelves, her chest heaving, sweat dripping down her face. Her cute pink top was ruined, covered in blood and torn from the glass, her leg was soiled in blood.

As soon as the words left Maggie's mouth, they slammed into the door, shaking it on the hinges. With a gasp, Elias tugged at the shelves, and they gave a loud groan as she tugged, sliding barely an inch.

"Maggie. Help." She groaned, giving another hard tug, her blonde hair falling infront of her face, covered in grime and sticking to her own sweat. With a grimace, Maggie pushed herself away from her own shelf, limping over quickly. What little strength Maggie was able to use was enough to budge the large metal shelf only a few more inches infront of the door.

But both girls knew it wouldn't last. And as they leaned against the shelf, they prepared their-selves.

But then, there was a buzz.

"How are things goin'?" Drawled a bored, southern accent. The same accent that had been checking up on them not every 15 minutes like expected, but once an hour, the same voice that had insulted Elias on top of the RV earlier that morning.

Elias cried out, unclipping the walkie from her waistband and lifting it up to her mouth, clicking the button with shaky fingers. "We need back up! Now!"

"What?" His confusion was easily hear-able through the tiny speaker, but she heard a faint noise of him calling over someone. Rick, probably.

"We were in the Pharmacy, and we were swarmed, and long story short, we jumped from a roof and and fell through another and Maggie's hurt and now we're stuck in a storage room with a shelf against the door and we're going to die and-"

There was silence on the other end, not even a buzz. Elias wandered if he even understood anything she was saying. The dead slammed against the door harder now, ravenous for just a taste of the beating pulse under their skin. Elias didn't want to be somethings supper. "A response would be nice about now." Maggie growled, her had clutching onto Elias' pressing the button down.

Their was a buzz again. "We're on our way." The redneck said.  
>"Hurry, we can't hold on much longer."<p>

"Its a 20 minute drive, but we'll make it in 10." He grumbled back through the walkie. There was a pause on his end. "And unless ya puke, faint, or die ya best keep holding that door shut Standford." He added, and then the line went dead.

Elias' shoulders sagged, and she leaned her head back, the cold metal pressing against the top of her head. Her cornflower blue eyes darted to Maggie's russet brown, and in that moment, they exchanged a long look.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Gerty sat atop the RV, her tiny legs crossed Indian style and her head resting against her open palm. She was bored. But atleast atop this RV with the man who said nothing was better than wandering on the ground, the other adults questioning her with either piercing looks or annoying questions.

So, from the moment Elias had left, Gerty had taken her place, her dark blue eyes darting from the field to the green border line of the forest. And every so often they would twitch back to the man at her side, his foot tapping slowly, his hand drawn up to his mouth, chewing absent mindedly on his thumb nail, and his own eyes slowly gazing acrossed the forest.

So when she wasn't with Carl or her elder sister, she stuck to him like glue. She just knew that there was just something in him that didn't care even an ounce about her or Elias' sudden and shady arrival.

And he thankfully wasn't the older woman who was gaping at her as if she was Christ risen from the grave.  
>Carl, the injured boy, had whispered to her as they lay on their stomachs in the tall grass that morning that she looked alot like the girl that was missing. His brown eyes slightly glimmering and wet, and his mouth quivering. It was the bleach blonde hair and the big, dark blue eyes.<p>

He said that from a distance, she looked like the girl getting out of the car, running after Rick and Shane as they hauled her frail sister into the big white house.

It explained why everyone in the small camp made of ragged tents had stopped, as if time had frozen.

"Do you think they'll find that girl?" The question slipped form Gerty's mouth before she could even stop it.

The man in the chair hesitated, his hooded grey eyes turning to the tiny child. This was the first time she had really spoken to him. Sure, she followed him around the campsite, but she wasn't really one that desired talking. That was Elias.

The two sisters were as different as the sun and the moon. Not in looks really, because Elias had her giant stock of dirty blonde hair, and lighter blue eyes, while Gerty had her brighter hair and darker eyes, it was all in the personalities. But Gerty, still only 9, knew that Elias' chipper demeanor was just a mask covering something.

With a deep breath he leaned forward, his hand falling onto his knee. "I'm supposed to be out there lookin' for 'er, but they wanted me to stay, incase anything happen' in town." He grumbled in his deep drawl. Gerty stiffened. "Uh, not like anything is bound to happen." He added quickly.

Gerty bit her lip and nodded slowly, her eyes falling down to her hands infront of her. She heard him shift silently in his lawn chair, the uncomfortableness rolling off his shoulders in massive waves. He mumbled something about checking up on the girls, and she heard a click and a faint buzz off the walkie.

"How are things goin'?" He drawled, his voice sounding as if he had better things to do. And in his eyes, he did. But Gerty was greatful he was checking up on Elias. She felt a surge or greatfulness at the fact that this group was nothing like the one they had been with a week ago. She didn't even want to think of that place again.

xXxXxXx

It felt like an eternity before Elias heard the buzz of the walkie come to life over the loud ,pained, noises of the monsters outside. Maggie's head shot up weakly, her eyes dazed as she stared at the walkie in her battered hands, as if shocked that it was even making a noise. The blood seeping from her leg was still coming out slowly, sluggishly and even when Elias changed the bandage with her other sleeve, it was useless to stop the bleeding. She felt like that Daryl guy, sleeves ripped off her flannel like they were.

"Which building are you in?" Rick voice drifted from the their walkie. Maggie grimaced, pressing down on the blood covered buttons.

"Uh, the one next to the...uh pharmacy." Maggie replied weakly, and before she let go, Elias leaned forward adding: 'the one with all the dead things in it.' "It looks like a clothing store." Maggie added last second.

There was silence on their end again, and after a few minutes, they buzzed back in. "Are you in a storage room?"

Maggie nodded, then seemed to remember that they couldn't see her, before pressing the button back down. "Yeah. With a shelf against the door."

"Well, move the shelf aside, and we'll shoot a path through the horde for you two to get through. There are alot though, so you'll have to be fast. Around 20, maybe 25. Tell me when your ready."

With a grimace, Maggie shoved herself up, and gestured for Elias to help move the shelf. But she didn't have much strength left, so, with a burst of strength and a gruff groan, Elias shoved the shelf back into place against the wall herself. Her heart pounding, she grabbed both bags from the spot they had taken on the dirty floor, and tugged them over her shoulders, nodding at Maggie to walkie them in.

"Okay," Rick said "on three run out."

"Okay." Both girls replied, Maggie wincing as she stood behind Elias, trying not to put her weight on her injured leg. Her gun was ready in her right hand, and she tossed the tiny pocket knife in her pocket to Elias.  
>They hadn't trusted sending Elias out there alone with Maggie armed.<p>

Look where it got them.

"One." The walkie buzzed.

Elias flipped the pocket knife open.

"Two." She unlocked the bolt with shaky fingers, grabbing the door knob into her clammy free hand slowly.

"Three!" And to the sound of loud gunshots, she flung the door open running into the shop to see the horde facing the three men with guns and a crossbow firing wildly at their skulls. Maggie limped out after her, her chest heaving as she struggled to make her way towards them.

But she didn't notice the walker making its way towards her back.

"Maggie!" Elias cried out, running and shoving the decayed man seconds before his rotting hand grabbed onto Maggie's gun hand.

But she had shoved it into a shelf, causing it to fall and collapse on both her and the monster.

Leaving her pinned, with the walkers craning their heads to see what had happened. Leaving them noticing her, the fresh victim that would be unable to escape.

Maggie was at her side in a second, her eyes darting as she tried her best to lift the heavy metal shelf from the girl, but her failing strength wasn't allowing her to. "FUCK." The brunette hissed. "I can't."

Elias, head dizzy, looked up at the girl, then over at the horde, their attention now fully diverted to them. "Run."

"What?"

"Run. I have a better chance of living if you run...and then...circle back for me." Elias lied.

Maggied gulped, nodding her head slowly. Elias could tell that she didn't believe it, that she knew this girl would be brunch for what ever smart walker stayed behind. "I'm sorry." Maggie whispered, standing back up with great dificullty.

" 's'kay." She mumbled back weakly, the pain in her leg blocking her from any real thoughts.

Then the brunette stood up, taking off in a limping run around the counter, yelling as she did so, out the front door with what looked like the zombies and men following her.

And the only thought Elias could muster was how she wished she had made her promise to look after Gerty. But then she heard it. The groaning. turning her blonde head to the right, she saw it. The walker she had knocked to the ground. It's own legs were stuck, but it was struggling as it reached out for her, its hand brushing on her shoulder. It was so close.

With a gasp, Elias shifted as best she could, but it must have freed some space for the walker to move, because it dragged itself closer, its face only held back a few inches from biting her bare shoulders. Then the thought hit her suddenly like a strain of thunder. The pocket knife!  
>She had dropped it when the shelf fell for her, and her eyes skimmed the room quickly. Among the shattered glass, way out of her reach, was the pocket knife.<p>

'Fuck. Just my luck.' She thought to herself.

And just when she gave up hope, an arrow whizzed straight into its head.

With large blue eyes she looked up to see that jerk of a redneck yank the arrow back out before quickly crouching down to grip the heavy shelf.

"You came back." She whispered softly.

"Shut up and push." He grumbled back, agitated as his eyes darted from her back to the door. The walkers had followed him back in, stumbling slowly.

With a weak nod, she pushed her hands against the metal shelf, crying out as the weight left lower body. It was a great relief.

With strong hands he reached down, grabbing her arm and tugging her up, even as she winced. Her right ankle hurt like a bitch more than it had before. He tugged her arm over his shoulder, resting his hand quickly on her waist before his eyes darted to the back door. "C'mon." He growled, half dragging her outside.

"You came back." The blonde repeated again.

"She made me promise." He grumbled, his hand gripping her hip tighter, and the other holding the cross bow at the ready. "The girl. She made me promise." They were outside now, entering the forest as fast as her limp would let them. Her body, tiny and exhausted, was pressed against his side, staggering and limping on her aching ankle.

If they hadn't been close to death, he would have enjoyed the feeling of her pressed against him like that.

She gave him a weary smile, her face exhausted and covered in blood from the tiny scrapes and cuts, her blonde hair was stuck to her face and neck from the sweat and said blood. "Gertrude?"

"Who else woulda', ya dumb shit?" He snapped back. "Anyway, they left, Rick took Maggie, and Shane is leading them away. Shitty job he fuckin' did." The red-neck growled as he helped her over a fallen trunk, his head looking over his shoulder to see the mass of walkers following them out. There was only about 6 or 7, but that was still to much for him to take on his own, while helping the girl whose head was bleeding at a faster rate, and who seemed as if she couldn't even control her own feet.

All Elias did was give a slow, small smile, looking up at him softly. "Thank you." She mumbled. For some reason, that one look sent Ol' Dixons heart a'poundin in that chest of his, and his eyes darting away, not noticing her cornflower blue eyes fluttering shut.

**xXx**

**SO! Tell me what ya think? Good? Bad? Moderate? You'd rather be probed by an alien? I'd like to know! Also, what do you thinks going to happen next? **


	5. Wandering

**UPDATE: I edited this chapter. Fixed the errors I caught, and adjusted the plot a little, seeing as I changed it. **

**Wandering**

The last remainder of daylight trickled through the tree branches as Elias sat on a boulder, her right ankle propped up on a log Daryl had dragged over and the redneck sewing up the gash on her head with the supplies from the first-aid kit that had been buried at the bottom of Maggie's bag.

"Done, Standford." He muttered, pulling the last of the string through her wound. With a wince from her and a bite to the inside of her cheek, she stiffened as he leaned forward using his teeth to bite through the rest of the sting and pull the needle away from her scalp. She never had much of a tolerance for pain, making her a giant wimp. Even stubbing her toe brought her to the ground in tears, and she was incredibly greatful that it was over with.

And now that all of her adrenaline had worn out, she felt like crying.

"Hershel have'ta look at it when we make it back to the camp tomorra. Tha' ankle too." The gruff man said. placing the needle and remaining thread back into the kit, before wiping his hands onto his jeans.

At that moment, her ears perked up, her eyes snapping open and flicking over to him, completely forgetting about the new throbbing of her scalp added to her list of pain. "What do you mean 'tomarra''?" Elias ordered, scowling as she mimicked his voice rather badly. He raised an irritated eyebrow at her, bending over to stuff the cloth into the pack that had been Maggie's, before picking it up and swinging it over his shoulder. He did the same with his cross bow, and then tossed the one that had been hers at her. It was considerably lighter, seeing as she had watched him transfer half of the items in it to his own moments before.

She was only slightly greatful, because she still felt sluggish, and slightly offended, because she wasn't a weakling. She could handle a heavy bag, she'd been doing it for months while on the road with Gerty. She didn't like when people assumed she was weak. But then again, who did?

With annoyed, grey eyes, he huffed at her, reaching a hand out and tugging at her arm gently, helping her stand up before draping her arm over his shoulder. It was awkward, seeing as she was so much shorter than him. He had to be a good foot taller than her, and seeing as she was only 5'4", it said alot about how large this hillbilly was.

"I mean," He continued, speaking slowly, as if she was stupid, "that its gonna be dark soon, and yer too beat up ta be tramping through the forest at dark, so we're gonna have'ta suck it up and camp out somewhere. I saw a cabin when I was draggin your useless body into the woods," He started walking slowly then, his strong strut still evident.

She repressed a growl or a snappy comment. It was best not to piss off the guy who was saving your ass, right?

A half hour of tripping on not only her own feet, but also his was tiring on both of them. But valiant Daryl Dixon only cursed at her a few times, before giving up on the idea that she would stop trampling over his feet and just continued on their way. They found the tiny cabin right as the last few rays of sunlight filtered through the tree branches.  
>It wasn't a cabin at all, from the first glance, Elias knew it was just a hunting shack. Her father had rented one of these tiny little adobes once a year during deer season. He would sleep a few hours in his sleeping bag, Elias nestled up in her pink Barbie one next to him, and then wake up extra early to make a breakfast over the portable grill that they plugged into the walls.<p>

It was a nice memory for her, and she didn't want to ruin it by going in there to see what was waiting for them.

But with an annoyed noise, Dixon pushed her arm off his shoulder and left her leaning against a tree, pulling an arrow out and notching it before walking slowly towards the door, his grey eyes dartig against the small gravel road leading to the shack, and the trees around them. Nothing was outside, so with one steady hand, he grabbed the knob and pushed open slowly, peaking his head in for a second before leaning out and motioning for Elias to make her way over to him, before strutting inside.

Elias, with ginger, limping steps, followed quickly, uncomfortable being so vulnerable in that quickly advancing darkness. Her ankle, swollen beyond belief, woundn't be much help in a fight if a random walker decided to make her dinner. Not that she would see it coming anyway.

Speaking of dinner, her stomach growled painfully loud as she staggered into the shack, her hand lingering in the door way.

It was tinier on the inside because it was only one room, and completely empty, minus the small layer of dust coating the wooden floor.

"Just like the one my father used to rent." Elias mused, walking to the middle of the room and placing her bag onto the middle of the floor, crouching down and slowly lowering herself next to it, choosing to ignore the throbbing in her foot. Dixon skirted around her, walking to the door and shutting it quickly, locking the bolt and walking to the one window, peering outside into the sudden darkness. The lack of light made the room feel a thousand times darker, causing Elias to pull her legs to her chest, resting her head atop of her knees.

Her eyes stayed on him, his bare shoulders strong and muscular, tense as he looked through the small window. He was filthy, covered in blood that she assumed was her own. He gave no sign that he was even heard her speak as he slid his own bag off onto the floor and walking over to sit a few feet away from the blonde girl. He placed his cross bow at his side gently, before laying down.

"Go ta sleep, Standford. Gotta walk in the mornin'."

Without a protest about how early it still was, she slid down onto her back as well, placing her hands on her stomach and fiddling with the fraying hem of her ruined flannel. She had always been a night person, working night shifts as a waitress at the bar had literally been a perfect job for her. There were plenty of people around, mostly old men with plenty of stories. But even in her teen years she had spent all her time on her computer, blogging and reading into the early hours of the morning.

She fidgeted more, taking her boots off, one regularly, and the second gingerly before laying back down. It was weird not having Gerty laying right next to her, curled up at her side like a kitten. She hoped Gertrude wasn't staying up late, wandering about the well being of her sister, but they, well Daryl, had decided it would be better to just walk back rather than go back to the overrun town.

"What do you miss most about...life before this?" Elias asked, no longer able to stand the silence, laying on her back with her hair splayed out beneath her. The floor wasn't her first choice, but it was better than sleeping outside, completely unguarded. Plus, nature was gross, in her opinion.

He grunted next to her, realizing at that moment how alike the two sisters were, his back facing to her, his shoulders slack and relaxed. He was exhausted. While Standford looked like she weighed less than a box of feathers, that girl was probably heavier than a Ford truck. And running with her was a thousand more times harder. His muscles ached more than they ever had. But for some reason, the soft hum of her soft voice was soothing to him. Calming, almost.

"Like," Elias began, lifting her hand into the air above her and examining it closely, "Temple Run. That cheesy game for ipods. Gerty still has it on hers, but she only plays it every now and then, to save the battery. She only charges it when we're in a car. Refuses to let me even touch the thing and beat her score."  
>She felt as if she were babbling, but she didn't want to stop talking. It was dark, and they were vulnerable, and so her mouth automatically flung itself open in a terrific display of word vomit. "And I miss my cat, Motormouth. And TV shows. I miss watching Jensen Ackles stare longingly at the TV screen. I miss-"<p>

"God dammit, if I say something will you shut tha fuck up?" Daryl had turned, laying on his back now and glaring at her with his peircing grey eyes. He gave a heavy sigh, slightly guilty for snapping at her, and looking away, up to the ceiling like she was. he heard the thud of her hand falling to the ground next to her, and her body shifty. "Pie. Apple pie."

She looked over at him, a soft smile on her lips, and she hummed her reply. "Good night."

He grunted back, turning back on his side, facing away from her, his hand reaching out ot grip his bow gently, ready to spring into action at any second. "Your dad a hunter?"

Elias jerked, not expecting him to talk to her again, and she nodded quickly, then realized that he couldn't see her. "Yeah. Deer, mostly. Used to just take me, before Gert was born. Mostly just used a bow. It was beautiful and super expensive. Wouldn't let me get anywhere near it. You hunt?"

He snorted. "Huntin' ran in my family. Not the only thing that did though."

Elias waited, wondering if he would say anything more, and when he didn't she sighed, turning to face his back, her eyes again falling onto his bare shoulders. She wish she knew why she had a sudden fascination for them. She had never really been a shoulder type girl. More of a hip bone one.

He didn't answer, and after a while, his breathing became slow and gentle, and hers followed in pursuit.

xXxXx

She woke up, not snuggled in his arms like a cliche romance novel, but reaching out over the space between them and touching his back. It was what she did with Gerty. Checking to make sure that he was still there. That he hadn't left in the middle of the night. And across the cold, empty space between them, she felt his body shift, his breathing turning back to normal as he pulled himself out of the deep chasms of sleep.

But god, did he snore louder than anything Elias had ever heard. But it only woke her once, before she calmly feel back to sleep, shifting only a little bit closer to him, shivering slightly in the night. It was calming and reassuring, hearing it faintly as she drifted back to sleep. Yet another reminder that she wasn't alone.

It took a few moments before he realized their was a tiny hand touching him, as he slowly drifted out of sleep, and he flinched away, pushing himself away from the girl and pulling himself up, not even looking at her as he walked to the door, bow in hand, throwing it open and proceeding down the steps and away a little, unzipping his pants to take a whizz.  
>She heard, waking up quickly and sitting up, her eyes darting around the room, her stomach giving another pained growl. But that wasn't the only thing that wasn't happy. Her back and neck hurt from laying on the hard ground with nothing to even attempt to soften the ground under her, and her head felt dizzy from sitting up so suddenly.<p>

She started to examine her ankle. It wasn't swollen anymore, just bruised to the point that there was no tan skin see able. With a sigh, she tugged up her shirt, seeing that two large straight bruises were also starting to form there, where the shelving had fallen on her. It wouldn't be a surprise if they were on her legs too, but she wasn't going to risk being caught with her pants down by this guy. Even if he did save her life, he didn't deserve a peep show.

Though, if he played his cards right, she wouldn't really mind giving him one.

She stiffened at that thought, shoving her shirt back down and reaching forward to dig into her bag, pulling out two granola bars and ripping them open quickly, trying her best to wipe any of those thoughts from her head. It had been a long time since...well since she'd done _that_.

And she really wasn't going to do it with that jerk.

Holding onto the bar with her teeth, she reached down to tug her boots onto her tired, sore feet, and her throbing ankle. Daryl came back inside, bow still on shoulder, walking over to grab the bar next to her and ripping it open, basically shoving the whole thing into his mouth before he tossed the wrapper to the ground and shrugged the last backpack over his shoulder.

"Lets go." He grumbled down at her, heading back towards the door, her shoving herself up tiredly and following him slowly, still wincing at the weight she put on her ankle.

"How long?"

"Few hours.' He grunted out, and at that moment, Elias knew that she was going to die. Not physically, unless attacked by a horde of walkers, but mentally. Dealing this guy, Mr. Talkative, for a few hours was going to be the death of her.

Her mouth was twitching already, words begging to slip out. Word vomit was just around the corner, she could feel it on her tongue, and in moments she was going to regurgitate every single thought she had ever had.

The struggle was clear on her face as she bit her lip, her brow crunching up, reaching up to fiddle with her hair, trying to distract herself.

"What did you do before all this?" The words slipped out of her mouth so quickly and so loudly, she wouldn't have been surprised if he didn't understand any word she said, but as they made their way around a fallen tree, he paused, looking over his shoulder and at her face.

"Not much." He grunted back, cross bow pulled over his shoulder, grey eyes, the color of a dark stone, flicking from her eyes, and down her, as if he was still accessing her damage. She knew she was covered in dry flaking blood, some her own and some not, and day old sweat seeping into her pores, giving her the 'I-probably-haven't-bathed-in-a-week' look. While it was frowned upon in the 'before times' it was pretty normal these days.

Her mouth twitched again. "God, what I would give to brush my teeth right now. To bad I left all that stuff in my tent."  
>"Yeah." He huffed back, not even bothering to look back at her this time.<p>

She frowned, pulling at a stray strand of hair. She wasn't enjoying his short responses. At all.

"I hope Gerts not_ too_ freaked out."  
>He only grunted in response. And no matter what else she said, he did not give her any response besides one worded ones, or the occasional grunts. She gave up eventually, enjoying the smell of the clean forest air, and the sight of the leaves slowly turning hues of oranges and reds. The forest in the fall was a beautiful sight, and she felt slightly thankful that she had lived to see another one, but what about the winter? It was bound to be a cold, vicious one, and Elias still hadn't decided if she as going to end up staying with this group or not for the winter. Who knew what would happen?<p>

Until around 10. She was lagging behind, her ankle bothering her immensely, when he decided to stop, watching as she struggled to sit on highway asphalt, only a mile or two from the farm. His gaze, unreadable, never left her even as he reached into the pouch on the side of the bag and pulled out a water battle, taking a quick swig before handing it to her.

"Thanks." Elias smiled back, wanting to chug the rest, but knowing that probably wasn't the best idea. Two miles was still a long way away ,and who knew what was going to happen. She handed it back to him, licking her dry, cracking lips, but then a smile crossed her mouth. "We match." She giggled.

He raised an eyebrow at her, crouching down on his feet and stuffing the bottle back into the bag before examining her again, a smirk gracing his lips only for a fraction of a second before slipping back to that slightly annoyed expression he seemed to have every time he looked in her direction. They both were wearing flannels, the sleeves ripped away, though Elias' was due to her binding Maggie's wounds, and Daryl's, from what she could only assumed, was because he liked to give those guns some air.

"I look better in it though." She giggled again, grinning widely at the older man.

He snorted. "Hows your ankle?" Daryl inquired, grabbing at her right leg and sliding the boot off her foot, freezing as she winced from his roughness. "Sorry."  
>"S'kay." The blonde whispered back, her eyes flicking up to his as he peeled the sock from her foot, examining the bruises closely, his hand gentle as he moved it on the joint. "Look bad, doc?"<p>

His grey eyes looked up at hers slowly, lingering. "Well, I aint no doc. My brother Merle, he was a idiot. Doin' stupid shit and hurting his self all the time when we were kids." And then his warm, gentle fingers were gone, allowing her to quickly put on her foot wear, holding out a hand to help her out when she was done. The moment she was standing, he released, throwing that ratty backpack back over his shoulder, turning to walk away.

"You have a brother?" Elias inquired, doing her best to catch up with the mans quick pace, her hair, falling out of its bun and acrossed her curious blue yes, her pink lips pulled into a frown. There was no Merle at camp. She knew the answer, she didn't know why she even bothered asking.  
>"Had."<p>

The blonde didn't have to ask how. She knew, just from the tone of his voice, and reaching out she placed her hand onto his arm. "I'm so sorry."

His reaction wasn't what she expected. He flinched, yanking away so fast he jostled her, causing her to stumble backwards, his eyes, pissed and his mouth pulled into an angry grimace.

"Stop fuckin' touchin me." Dixon growled, eyes flashing. "You don't fuckin' know nothin. God dammit! I can't wait to be fuckin back at the farm so that I can be fuckin' done with you. Always talkin' and shit. Fucking Fuck."

Growling, like a feral animal, he stomped forward.


	6. Simplicity

**Simplicity **

The rag in which she scrubbed gore from her face lay atop her pile of dirty clothing, and the world around her was blocked out by the sound of water, gentle and warm against her bruised and battered body, soothing on her ankle. An actual bath wasn't something Elias had in months, early August probably, and the feeling made her curl her toes from happiness. Sure she had the shower the other day, but that was different. Baths were always better, much more realizing.

The moment the duo had stumbled back onto the farm, they were crowded, Gerty throwing her arms around her older sister, and then her sisters savior. Andrea asking questions about what happened. Shane apologizing that there wasn't anything else he could have done, though, Elias got the feeling he didn't really do anything to begin with. And Rick inquiring about injuries, bites, cuts, the works.

But she had been ushered inside by Hershel, up the stairs and into a bathroom with a bear clawed tub and bright shower curtains with yellow polka-dots, past Maggie who was sprawled out on her floor on her stomach, her leg bandaged and her nose stuck in a book, Glenn sitting next to her, his own book in hand. The old vet had checked up on her, informing her that the stitches would do just fine, the bruises on her body would heal, and that her ankle too, wasn't sprained, but she should still stay off of it for a couple of days. And then, he turned around, informing her he would send his youngest daughter to fetch her some clothing, and to take all the time she needed before shutting the door behind him.

A half hour later, she still lay in the water, nothing but her nose poking out, but her eyes, large and blue, staring up at the ceiling the color of sunshine.

This was giving her time to think. To remember. And that was the opposite of anything she ever wanted to do again. She just wanted the warm embrace of the water, not what came with it. But she couldn't help it. She closed her eyes and she slipped into a memory. Something she hadn't bothered thinking about in years.

_"Mama?" fifteen year old Elias whispered, peeking into the dark room. It was three in the afternoon, but the shades were drawn, and all Elias could see was the tiny, sickly form of her mother laying under a mass of large __comforters.__ She had been feeling colder lately. The doctors said it was normal, but Elias knew that there wasn't much time left, she could just feel the disease rolling off her mother. _

_"Hey, baby girl." _

_Her mother's voice, rough but sweet called out tiredly, and in the distance, Elias could hear one year old Gerty giggling from her own room, where she was supposed to be taking her nap. Even though everyone who was in the house was awake, and her father was working at the __fire-station__, Elias still tiptoed into the room, shutting the door softly, blocking out the light that had streamed through when she poked her face in. Since the light was gone, all the blue paint on the walls now seemed frightening and grey, instead of accepting and chipper._

_"Mama." Elias whispered again, crawling in bed next to her mother, and snuggling her head onto her shoulder. She hadn't done that in years. She was much too old now. But if she didn't, when would she ever get the chance to? "I love you." She whispered. She saw the outlines of her mothers mouth tugging into a soft smile. _

_"I love you too, my darling Ellie May." And the sickly woman reached up, adjusting the knitted hat on her balding head. _

_Elias smiled at the nickname her mother used for her. The older woman had never approved of naming her daughter Elias, so always stuck to calling her daughter by a more feminine nickname, and her middle name. She liked to claim that __that's__ what she really wanted to name her, but her husband was so strong-willed that in the end, she lost. Not that he had used any __excessive__ force or anything. She bent for him, at his will. She adored him. Back then he was a great man, the perfect loving, accepting father who made sure to make it home for dinner every night, and made time to play with his kids on the weekends._

_"Even...even when I'm gone." _

_"Mama..." The young girl began, pushing herself up onto her arms and staring down disapprovingly at her mother. She was the exact image of what her mother looked like in health, and it pained everyone who saw her. She was the shining __remembrance__ of her mothers decaying life.  
>"Shhh...Elias. I know this is hard for you. But you must accept death. Sure, you are doing it sooner than others, but <em>_that's__ how life works. You enjoy the moments you spend with others, and when they die, you embrace the pain it causes. Because that means you're human. And that means you loved them. And that means the memories they leave behind for you, will help heal you." _

_Two weeks later, she was dead, and Elias' father no longer looked at his fifteen year old daughter with out the nagging pain in his chest._

"Elias?" A knock came from the door, causing the blonde to stir from her memories. It was Gerty, her voice soft and scared. She was wondering what had happened to her older sister, slightly scared that she had somehow managed to drown herself. Even in the before days, Elias had never spent so much time bathing. She was more of a 'do your business then get out' type of person. She was quirky and giggly, and was never able to stay still.

The elder blonde, sighed, pulling herself out of the water and standing up, stepping over the side of the tub and grabbing a clean towel from a rack next to the sink. Wrapping it around herself quickly, she made her way to the large white door, opening it slowly and smiling down at her dirty, ratty haired sister, who held a bundle of her clothing in her tiny arms. She was small, even by twelve-year-old standards.

"Hey squirt."

Gerty handed the clothing over to her sister, before turning around to quickly make her way down the stairs. "Hey, wait!" Cried out Elias, shoving the door open, after tossing her clothing into a dry corner. She followed her sister, making her way into the hallway, the wood cold against her now chilled, wet feet. She was dripping water all over the place, forming a puddle where she stood in the middle of the hallway.

Gerty hesitated, turning around with her hands now tucked into the pockets in the back of her shorts. "You scared me." She whispered. "I didn't think you were coming back."

Elias didn't even wait one second before she advanced down the hallway, her bare arms wrapping around her sister, not worried about getting dirty again, even for a second. She was ashamed of her actions. The remorse she felt over not being there for Gerty was unsurpassed by anything she had ever felt in all her 26 years. "Shh, baby girl." She cooed, the small girls shoulders shaking as she lifted her own arms up, clutching the back of the white towel.

She was still so young. Elias often forgot how young Gertrude really was. She was to concerned with her own selfish desire to be needed, that for a few moments, she actually forgot how needed she really was.

What would Gerty do if she were to die?

Elias didn't want to think about it.

"Hey." Elias crouched down, pushing a strand of wet hair behind her ear before grabbing her sisters chin and lifting it up. Staring into those puffy blue eyes, she saw herself. Lost. "How about I get dressed really fast, and when I'm done, you use my bath water to clean yourself up. When your done, I have something for you, and maybe I'll even braid those little dreadlocks of yours."

Gerty scrunched her dirt covered nose. "Gross. Used bath water? Really?"

With a roll of her eyes, Elias stood back up adjusting her towel and turning away. "Beggars can't be choosers, darling." And then she walked back into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. and tossing the towel onto the floor. She was basically air-dried now, minus her hair, which she ran quick, clumsy fingers through before walking over and shuffling through the clothing. She slid into her undergarments quickly, before tugging her shorts on and then pulling on the plain grey shirt over her head. With quick moments she tugged her socks on and slipped into her boots before gathering up her filthy clothing into her arms and walking back out into the hallway. She wished she had been given a chance to shave her legs, but body hair was the least of her worries now.

Gerty was now standing there, heaving slightly as she held a new bundle of clothing in her arms. She was actually eager about bathing, no matter if the water had already been used. A nice bath was now a once in a lifetime chance. She must have run back to the tent and grabbed the first pair of clean clothing she could find.

She nodded her head at her elder sister, before hurrying into the bathroom and locking the door behind her, not giving Elias, or anyone else, the chance to stop her.

Elias suppressed a smile.

"Hey!" Maggie called from her room, her head poking around the doorway she was leaning against, smiling softly at the blonde that looked like a drowned rat with her tangle of dark wet tendrils. "Nice look." She teased.

Elias rolled her eyes, shifting her dirty clothing to her right arm. "The latest fashion."

"I'm glad your alive."

Elias gave her a tiny half-smile, nodding her head. "Yeah. Me too."

Maggie shook her head. "No, Really. When we came back with out you, your sister freaked. She demanded we go get you and Daryl. She refused to eat, and she refused to sleep. Carol and Lori ended up staying with her all night. Sweet of them."

"I'll have to thank them,"

"Okay, well, if you ever get bored with being a productive member of the group, come find me. I'm on bed rest."

"I'll make sure to do that." The blonde promised, smiling. She liked Maggie. She was a true country girl, no bullshit needed at all. Her kindness leaked through her in waves. She was obviously raised by good, caring parents. But that was already obvious, her father was a kind man, and so was her mother, from the little Elias knew of her. "Hows it feeling? Your leg."

Rolling her big blue eyes and letting out a huff, Maggie frowned. "It hurts so bad, I don't know whether to drown myself in alcohol or that lake behind the house."

"At least you're not dead."  
>"Yes. At least I'm not dead.<p>

xXxXx

They sat at the old, paint chipped picnic table, their blonde waves both fishtailed and their bodies squeaky clean. A pink fingernail polish bottle sat open next to a makeup kit, the brush coated in a pastel pink, being slid over the younger of the sisters nails.

Clean clothing, clean body, clean hair, and fresh nail polish was almost making Gertrude feel human again. Almost.

Elias' own layer of cleanliness shone brightly, her braided hair pulled over her shoulders, her eyes rimmed with dark eyeliner, and her lips shiny and pink, her own nails were already painted the same pastel pink she was now doing to her younger sister. She felt like a new person. She knew she would never feel like her old self again, but that wasn't a bad thing, really. Her old self was weak. And stupid. And useless.

At eased and relaxed, Gerty smiled like she had before this all began, and Elias felt a surge of happiness for always keeping that tiny, dumb kit. The gift she had given Gerty was now rubberbanded with the hundred others, and placed among the almost useless makeup.

"Kinda useless, don't ya think?" It was the Asian boy, Glenn, bouncing down the steps with a skip in his step. Obviously in a good mood from whatever he had done up there, alone, with Maggie. And even though he said this with an easy smile, Elias still felt a twing of annoyance. If she were a cat, her fur would be standing on its ends. He noticed and put his hands up, as if in surrender, that smile turning uneasy. "Hey, i was just kidding. Never really saw much use for makeup in the first place."

It was Gerty who spoke up first. "That's sad, because damn, you could really use some to cover up that mug."  
>Elias gasped, holding back a giggle as she scolded her younger sister.<p>

Glenn, only slightly shocked, looked back and forth from each of the sisters.

"She actually does have a point." It was Shane and Rick, advancing up the steps, an uneasy air around them as they advanced into the house. It was Shane who had spoken, and he stopped to lean forwards and attempted to ruffle Gerty's hair, but the girl had moved out of the way, ducking to the side to leave the man's hand lingering in the air awkwardly.

"Don't touch me." Gerty growled, her blue eyes flashing, her body stiffening. She was trying to look fierce, but she looked like a shaky Pomeranian. Gerty had whispered to Elias her unease about Shane as she braided her hair. He had come back minutes after Rick and Maggie. Everyone knew that wasn't enough time to even attempt saving Elias and Daryl.

Elias turned away, her eyes catching Glenn, who was trying to hide his own amused smirk.

"Well...Glenn, you should go switch shifts with T-Dog." Rick said uncomfortably, the air turning stiff and quite. Shane cleared his throat, pulling his hand back and stuffing it into his pocket slowly.

"Isn't Daryl supposed to be doing that tonight?"  
>Shane snorted, opening his mouth the to answer, but Rick cut him off. "He's out looking for Sophia. It's important that he does. We need to find her as fast as we can."<p>

"Not very likely. It has almost been a week. We're cops, Rick. You know the statistics. If a child goes missing and isn't found in 2 days, they're probably dead." Shane added, glaring at Rick. It was obvious to everyone present how Shane felt about Rick. The fact that Shane felt Rick inferior, and a bad leader was all but hidden among the small group.

"Shane." Rick started, but Elias cut him off.

"Hey, since you're here, I was wondering if there was a car I could borrow tomorrow?" She didn't mention who she was saying it to, she'd rather wait and see who was going to start marking their leadership territory like rabid dogs.

Rick frowned, rubbing at the sweat forming on his head. "Look, I don't think that's a good idea."

"I don't want to use it to leave the farm or anything. I just figured...if Gertys old enough to dye her hair, she's old enough drive, ya know? It'll come in handy some day." She didn't let off that she was planing on getting Gerty ready for a life without her. It was unstoppable. In this new world, death was inevitable.

Gerty, also unaware of her sisters intentions, perked up, a smile forming on her face. Elias had only let her drive a handful of times, and only for a few minutes.

The older men looked at each other, Rick shaking his head and opening his mouth, but Shane spoke before he could.

"Sure! I don't see why not. Take mine. I'll give you the keys at lunch tomorrow." It was obvious to Elias that he was doing this to get on her good side. If their was ever a time when she would have to choose between the men as leaders, he wanted Elias to side with him. She almost laughed at the fact that he thought letting her drive his car around in circles in a field would make her choose him.

"I don't think that's a good-" Rick stared, but Shane cut him off, saying something about there was no harm that could be done in it, and that he would personally watch over the girls while they practiced. Elias took that moment to gather her things, and grab Gerty's dry hand before tugging her up. Gertrude staggered up, stumbling at the sudden jerk and grumbling in protest.

Elias waved goodbye to the tense men, a smile forced on her face, and tugged her younger sister into the village of tents, Glenn trailing behind.

"Ah, so I don't know how, but I could definitely tell that that's not your natural hair color." Glenn teased outside their tent, smiling down at the young girl. Gerty didn't say anything back, just looked as him uncomfortably.

"Yeah," Elias cut in,"about two weeks ago, we decided 'so what' grabbed a whole bunch of hair dyes, and picked blonde. We were so close to being redheads. I never really had much experience with dyeing hair, also. But I don't think I did so bad for a first time."

"Dang. That would have been interesting to look at. You two as redheads?"  
>"Why, you don't think we'd be rockin' red heads?"<br>Glenn smiled, turning and walking towards the RV where T-Dog was perched. She could briefly see the mans outline from where she was standing, but he was probably bored out of his mind, sitting up there.

"Only certain girls can pull off red hair. And you are not one of those girls."

Elias, slightly offended, grumbled as she unzipped her tent, tossing the makeup in and crouching down to grab the first book she could find. She leaned back out, smiling at the cover. "Come on, Gert, let's go read."

xXx

_"__Please believe me when I tell you that I picked up each soul that day as if it were newly born. I even kissed a few weary, poisoned cheeks. I listened to their last, gasping cries."_ Elias took a deep breath, her eyes flicking up from the pages she was reading from, and her foot no longer tapping as she lost concentration. They had formed a crowd in the dimming light. Most of the adults, their dinner in hand, sat in lawn chairs a few feet away, around a roaring fire, silent as they too, listened to her. Daryl sat closest, and now and then, glancing up from her pages, she caught his eyes on her, before they darted back to his cross-bow or the fire infront of him.

xx

He felt guilty about treating her the way he did earlier, when she was hurt. She didn't know. How could she? It wasn't like she could see into his thoughts with those big blue eyes of her, and see his memories of his family.

It's not like she would ever understand, even if she knew.

But the guilt still overwhelmed him as he listened to her read, her voice soft as velvet, her tongue darting out to lick at her lips, and her hair falling messily out of its braid. She was pretty, that much was obvious. And she was kind. And she was smart.  
>Way out of his league. Not that he cared. Girls had been the least of his worries before hell had started, and they were definitely the bottom hundred now.<p>

But he still felt his eyes darting to her as she read aloud, her voice floating in the late afternoon. As soon as he got back, he was going to seek her out, ask her how she was feeling, he owed her that much. But when he entered from the fields, he saw her sitting on the ground with her legs crossed, that book in her hand and her voice drifting into the early fall air.

He hadn't left hearing distance since then.

xx

Carl, the youngest, stood only a few steps away, and Elias paused to motion the boy over. He came, carrying two bowls meant for their dinner, and once he handed them to the girls, he doesn't run off, he sinks down next to them, pulling his knees to his chest, his blue eyes staring at the book in the older blondes hand. "Can I listen?" His voice is shy, almost a whisper.  
>Elias smiles softly, placing her bowl on the dirt next to her and reaching her now free hand out to ruffle his messy brown hair. "Haven't you been listening since the beginning?"<p>

His face turned a very baffling shade of red, and he looked down at his worn out converse.

_ With a smile, Elias turned back to the book, her voice sliding delicate and fragile over the words. "Their vanishing words. I watched their love visions and freed them from their fear."_

And she continued to read the story of the thief until the sun hid behind the horizon, and the words were no longer see able on the worn pages.


	7. Carpool

**Carpool**

"I feel as if I'm helping the PTA and all the other moms are judging me behind my back." Elias sighed, bending down to pick up another one of her battered clothing, to fold it gently and place it the table next to her.

On the other side of battered picnic table, Andrea snorted and nodded her head. Elias had never actually spoken to Andrea until 10 minutes ago, when she had wandered up with her duffle bag full of freshly sun dried clothing. The older woman had jumped, her eyes darting around in confusion before telling her it was okay to fold her laundry there.

Andrea's eyes, cautious, darted back up slowly. They had both been quite until now. "Yeah. I get that feeling sometimes too. Well. I used to. Back when..."  
>Elias paused her her folding, looking up at the older woman. She had heard about what happened to Amy, Andrea's sister. Was it right to bring something like that up? Would she be angry with her, for knowing something so personal?<p>

And for once, Elias was able to keep her mouth shut.  
>"Ya know, I'm starting to like you, kid." Andrea said after a few moments of silence. Elias, back to folding her cloths, cocked her head.<br>"Yeah? Why's that?"

"I know you know. Everyone knows. And yet, you didn't ask. Thank you."

Elias bit down on her pink lip, her eyes darting to the tired woman, who was looking down at her own clothing. She wasn't much older than her. She couldn't be. Maybe thirty. Maybe 29. Just tired. Just sad. Just lost.

But who wasn't?

"I just...if it had been Gerty..."

Andrea hesitated then. her shirt half folded in her hands, her gaze looking up at Elias. Blue eyes meeting blue eyes in understanding. "I didn't take it well. I lost it. Almost killed myself. Dale saved me. I needed someone to snap me back into reality. To remind me how much I needed to live. Because if i'm dead, who would remember her?" Andrea began folding again, her movements calculated. "It made me realize that I'm every mistake i've made. I'm every person I've ever hurt and i'm every word I've ever said. But mostly, that I am made of flaws."

"That's..."

"Sad. But it helped. Really it did. I hope that one day, you will never have to realize this." Her clothing was folded now, and placed into a black and red duffle back of her own. "Hope. That's important."

She let it sink in, the feeling surging over her skin and bones. Hope. Could hope really be the answer? What good was hope, when everyone you love is dead? Suddenly, there was a loud brass ring clanging throughout air. Someone rang the bell, just once, that they were all now beginning to associate with food time. Not that anyone truly looked forward to whatever they were making. It was probably just a mixture of peaches and beans.

Earlier in the morning, she had heard Rick and Hershel discussing another run into another town in a few days time. Going on another run was the last thing she wanted, but the direction they were heading this time was also where her and Gerty had abandoned their station wagon. It had many things they hadn't been able to carry. Pictures. Books. Even a tiny bit of food. And she knew for certain that her orange pill bottle was still in there, wedged between the seat and door. They had left in a hurry.

A lot of things had happened between then and when they left the car.

But the feeling of impending doom she had tucked in her chest had only faded slightly, her mind refusing to even flash back to what had happened to cause them to abandon their car and their treasured possessions.

But the only matter that really concerned Elias was that orange pill bottle with only a small amount of Celexa left inside. Those peach colored pills had been her life line before this all began, and when she had to start rationing it off to herself, she hadn't felt whole. And she definitely needed another ration. Her mind was turning into a dark place to be.

She finished her laundry slowly, taking her time as she tucked the rest of the clothing into the bag before disposing it her and Gerty's shared tent, slowly making her way to the slightly putrid smell of mixed peaches and beans. Her stomach grumbled. Not out of hunger, but out of slight disgust. She walked up the table, her eyes scanning for Shane as she ladled only a tiny bit into the cheap pink bowl that had been handed to her.

She didn't spot the older man, so she made her way to sit next to the woman she had been talking with over laundry only a few moments before. She felt a strange kinship for her. Not a friendship of any sorts, but a comfortable understanding. Not anything she was starting to develope with Maggie, but it was still pleasant in its own way.

A few feet away she saw Gerty devouring her own sludge, Carl at her side as they talked together softly. Elias was happy to see how quickly she had made friends with the boy, by still couldn't help the slight fear over what would happen when they would inevitably have to leave. It was bound to happen. Everything good came to an end.

Pushing those thoughts away, back into the depths of her consciousness, Elias moved her spoon around her food, playing with it.

"Hey, there you are, kid." A large hand grasped Elias's shoulder, freezing for only a brief second, she looked over her shoulder, eyebrows raised, glancing at Shane. His head was in needing of another shaving and so was his face, because a think wave of bristles was starting to make itself present. He must have been handsome, in the before time, but all that gruff showed nothing more than a man who was defeated.

Kid? "I'm 26." Elias said slowly, forcing a smile onto her face quickly, hopping to cushion the snapping tone of her face.

The older man furrowed his eye brows together. "Shit, really?"

Elias nodded slowly, Andrea had now turned her attention to them, Elias could feel her staring at the back of her messy blonde head.

"Damn, I thought you were like, 16 or somethin'. From how tiny you are and all."

Elias was small for her age. Especially from the lack of food and the amount of physical work she had been doing in the past few months. Though, none of it was really voluntary. If she could, she would shove a thing of french fries down her throat at that very moment. But that wasn't going to happen ever again, at the way things were looking.

"Oh, well..." There was a small, awkward pause in the air, and Shane stared down at her, smiling uncomfortably.

After a few more seconds, he cleared his throat, dug into his pocket, and pulled out the keychain. Tossing it to Elias quickly, before warning her to be careful, and walking off.

The keys still had a school picture made into a key chain on it, of a small little girl with red hair. He hadn't taken it off the keys yet. That was more than slightly morbid.

xXx

"Your mothers going to kill me, isn't she?" Elias began, coughing and rubbing her chest from when, moments before, the car had slammed into a hidden stump. It slammed onto her already bruised self in a moment of black out pain, her mind barely managing to calm itself back into normalicy. In her defense, the grass was tall, and they had been driving around with out a problem for the past twenty minutes. Of course, the moment she lets her guard down...

Carl, in the front seat, grimaced, rubbing his head where a large welt was beginning to form. Bright red with a slight purple tint, she already knew the answer before he opened his mouth. "Yeah..."

"And Shane?" Elias echoed from her spot in the back seat. It had been a major flaw in her judgment not sitting up front with Gerty. Like really, who lets a 12 year old drive in the first place, much less with the chaperone not even up front? Oh god. She was going to get a major tongue lashing for this.

"Probably." Carl murmured again.

"Eli, I am so so so sorry. I didn't mean to. It literally came out of no where. Like. I didn't even see it was there-"

Elias leaned forward on her seat, wedging herself into the front awkwardly and grabby Gerty's face. Her nose was a little bloody, but she would be fine. "Hey, its fine kiddo. Really. Accidents happen. And besides, i'm going to be the one getting in trouble for this. Now back up the car."

"Elias, that might not be a good idea..." Carl said slowly, turned fully in his seat.

"Yeah? Why so?"

"Well, Mom and Carol are behind us. And they don't look very happy."

By the time Carl finished his sentence, his mother wasn't behind them anymore. She wasn't a force to be reckoned with as she ripped open the door and pulled her child out, tugging him into her arms with a mother like voracity. Mothers were terrifying, and Elias felt grimly happy that hers was dead. The reaming she would have gotten from her mother would have been catastrophic.

Gertrude, wide eyed and brushing the blood dripping onto purse lips. Dark blue eyes flashing over to Carl and his protective mother, to Elias, and then over her sisters shoulder to the two person mob of the living. "Well?" She whispered when Elias did nothing for another moment.

With a snarky look aimed at her sister, Elias pushed herself back into the backseat, before shoving the door open and stepping out into the tall grass that ran up to the top of her thighs. It was brushing against her bare skin, and if she wasn't more terrified of the mob of the living, then the mob of the dead, she would have probably been annoyed at it.

Okay. well, it wasn't really a mob. Just Lori and Carol, but still terrifying. There is literally nothing scarier than the living. Zombies? They were predictable. But humans? You could never tell what one was going to do.

And damn, did she had some sharp words too.

"What the hell were you thinking!?" Lori snarled, clutching Carl to her body. "They could have been hurt! What is wrong with you?"

"Mom." Carl started, obviously embarrassed, but his mother shushed him, pushing him towards the oldest woman, who wrapped him into her long thin arms quickly.

"Look-"  
>Lori had advanced on her now, her finger reaching out to jab Elias in the chest. "No, you look, what you did was incredibly idiotic."<p>

With a raised eyebrow, Elias reached up and shoved Lori's hand away, not appreciating the woman in her personal space. "It wasn't even anything serious." She wanted to roll her eyes, but she didn't want to be shived in her sleep.  
>But the woman would not hear this, her face, flushed red and her eyes flashing with anger, she grabbed Elias's shoulder.<p>

"Don't touch her!"  
>The sound of the door slamming flashed through the air, echoing off the trees and the fields. Gerty had jumped out of the car, racing her tiny body in between her sister and the mother. "It's my fault. I asked Carl to come, and I was driving and I hit it."<p>

"Gertrude." Elias snapped, grabbing her little sister and pushing her out of the way. But the younger girl was resilient, shoving her way back in between, the blood staining her shirt now.

"Sweetie," Lori said, trying her best to soften her tone "this isn't your fault. You don't know any better-"  
>"I'm not a child!" Gertrude snarled. "I'm 12! And Elias didn't do anything wrong, you hag." And then she was off, racing towards the farm house and the tents.<p>

Lori turned her attention back to Elias, anger swelling up again on her face. "That little girl would do anything for you! And yet here you are, risking her life-"

"Her life? It was a stump!"

"She still could have been hurt!"

Now it was Elias's turn to snarl, her temper reaching its peek. "News flash, Lori, the world is a different place. People are fucking dead and eating other people. Two 12 year olds driving is literally the least of our problems. And you know what? I'ld rather them know how to drive, then get royally screwed when we're all dead."

Lori reached out, smacking Elias, the sting and force of the slap snapping her face to the side in TV drama style. "Stay away from my child, and grow up."

And then the posse was gone, leaving Elias behind her slightly bruised chest and stinging cheek.

For a white house, she sure could pack a slap.

Chest heaving, she jumped into the car, slamming it into reverse and peeling out, tearing through the field, running down the tall grass before driving onto the dusty road. With a sharp turn of the wheel, and a loud skid, she had turned the vehicle, speeding down the main road.

She didn't feel like waiting until the next supply run. She wanted her shit and her pills now, there was no way she was going to wait with these people. She needed fresh air, away from the overbearing moms club.

xXx

Gertrude didn't run to the camp. She ran to the hunter heading back out to his search for the missing girl. He had gotten back just as they hopped into Shane's vehicle, covered and and sweat from stomping around the dirty, hot, Georgia forest, hoping to get a quick bite of something to eat, because he forget to bring his own food. A stupid mistake, in hindsight.

"Take me with you." The tiny girl commanded, making it only a few steps before the red-neck turned back to star at her incredulously, eyebrows raised. They darted down to her blood smeared mouth, and the dark crimson blotches on her dirty yellow shirt.

"No way, kid. Yer way to young to be followin me aroun'. Plus, ya sister would maim me." He said, his voice thick with his accent and tiredness. It must have been exhausting, having every ones hopes pinned on your shoulders. Gerty hoped to never have anyone put her in his place.

And then he turned, making his way into the forest.

And he heard the small girl coming behind him, her footsteps in no way as quite as the experienced hunters. For someone so tiny, she sounded like a heard of zebras trying to escape a pride of lions.

He paused, turning back around. "Look. I don' have time for this. Ya need to go back."  
>"Look, are we really going to play this game? You tell me to go back a few times, and I continue to follow. Can't we just cut to the chase?"<p>

His eyebrows furrowed, he grunted out a few choice words before turning and heading back to the woods. The girl smirked to herself, following him eage


End file.
